We've taken on a new cat - Tigger

We have returned from the evil Vet. The bill of health for Tigger has returned with a very clean slate. No change, except for his extended excursion into mellow life of catdom. The vet is pleased as punch that his health has not deteriorated and believes that the pleasant life at home has worked its magic. He will allow me to ratch his tummy longer than before. He may decide that he really likes it, but I still approach the tummy ratch with a careful eye on his disposition. Loud purring

On another note: Shadow Ram MUST have a drink out of the guest sink when he comes upstairs. Tigger MUST have a drink out of the guest sink when he comes upstairs. Charlie MUST curl up IN THE SINK, regardless if water is on the bottom of the sink or not.

There is a race to the guest sink to see who will drink or "rest", however, if Shadow Ram (Alpha) and Tigger arrive at the same time, Shadow Ram will defer to Tigger (the oldest) for the drink. Shadow Ram drinks and than Charlie will "rest"

Sterling and Laptop prefer the master bedroom sink and will curl up on the bed together, hiding from Tigger/Charlie. It appears the marmalade monster kitties are not of the ilk preferred by the two. (we have no idea why the marmalade Tigger is nasty to Laptop/Sterling. Charlie is an obnoxious to everyone but that is lessening as he gets older. Charlie is at least 7 years younger than the other cats with Tigger being oldest at 13??)

It is my opinion that lots of love is turning Tigger toward the force instead of heading for the darkside.

My father in law and mother in law came over for New Years and really like how Tigger has become "mellow cat"

Ah... the wonderful of out Masters continues to make our household interesting. I've noted how when the door to the downstairs is open so that three of the cats can socialize with Tigger results in a cat race to the guest bathroom with various results. Three cats trying to drink out from the same source is amusing OR if Three legged Charlie gets into the sink first he will lay in the sink. Thus Shadow, Tigger may or may not complain if Charlie get there first. However, this is an update on Tigger.

Tigger has discovered that if he sits/lays on the keyboard of my laptop computer, or Nancys he will have a WARM place to rest his aged bones. Tigger has launched some unusual programs, once starting a computer program update that takes quite a few different keystrokes to start. The best was the time he shutdown the laptop.

Nancy and I do not yell at Tigger for getting on the laptop. We figure he's an OLD cat and needs love and attention, not abusive atmosphere. We realize that he "may" destroy some data, but we backup on a weekly basis, thus we allow the behavior. We gently pick him up and give him attention till he gets down. "Most" of the time he'll saunter away purring, but he occasionally gets back on the laptop keyboard to warm his aged bones. Warm body, attention from his slaves and respect he receives.

We KNOW he thinks it can't get much better than this.....

unless a ham or beef sandwich is being made. Such begging can be heard throughout the house. %^ )

Good to hear about him doing so well.

Anne

I love reading your stories about Tigger and the rest of your gang of masters!! Can't wait for the next installment!

Ah... the latest has both good and bad.

My nightstand has a small pad (a shoe cleaner from some hotel) where I put my morning coffee. It also has a clock, light and plastic bottle of baby powder. It also has a little flat bowl for my change, lip balm and such.

I work a somewhat strange shift... either a 12 hr. night watch or 12 hr. day shift. 8am-8pm or 8pm-8am

Consequently I'm sleeping like a bear in the winter. I must have a heating pad for the lower half of my body because my legs will cramp if too cold. The door is left open so that my masters may enter the bedroom anytime they feel the urge. The dog, being not an intellectual giant (he was picked up incorrectly by his mother and suffered brain damage) , is stopped by the door and goes back to the living room/kitchen. The cats will taunt the dog and run down the hall with Kaitu chasing. Into the bedroom the masters go... and the dog stops. The cats may or maynot decide to do a bounce turn off my sleeping body. OR they may decide I'm a launch pad, using the rather nice oak stepstool beside the bed so "older" cats can climb up to the bed. In any case the process is: step stool to get half way up to bed level, a leap to my sleeping form so as to launch themself UP to see if they can get to the ceiling where a windchime is placed. Make a nice chime noise is worth 1000 points methinks. Bouce back to the edge of the bed.... OOPS I missed the edge and I'm going to slide on the nightstand.... Oh... I meant to do that slave so stop complaining... slide.... ooh slide on the nice pad.... knock the bottle off. OHHHHH great gobs of white stuff can be made. I like to play with that.... (I now place the bottle in the closet)

You're sleeping during the day? I'm awake so YOU MUST BE AWAKE. I'll let you see/smell my tailend. OR I'll let you smell my kibble breath.

OH... wait.... your lower end is WARM. GO BACK TO SLEEP.... I'll guard you lower half and just wait for you to wake up. DON'T TURN OVER...

ah... a cats job is never done.

Great thread! I feel like I have visited your house several times, since I know so much about your family, especially Tigger. My boy Garfield's Momma was named Tigger.

Kitty TV was very interesting today. Seems that a teenage squizzle was out on the deck running back and forth on the rail. Not a big deal... but Laptop and Sterling were in my bedroom (door fully closed so that must mean the Tigger, Charlie and Shadow are in kitchen/dining/family room area and we HAVE to keep Laptop/Sterling separate else Tigger go crazy and attack them duo.... Charlie will "sometimes" hassle the duo)

Kitty TV has the volume turned up. Sterling and Laptop are both NATTERING at the squizzle. I hear the other three nattering and the squizzle KNOWS that he is the prime object of attention of FIVE cats. He runs back and forth... sometimes a saunter... but he's safe and knows it.

I go back to sleep. Sterling and Laptop join me on the bed. Sterling by my head... a long hair sterling silver cat... and a general run of the mill Tabby who likes to use my lap. He's a 15 lb or so car.... and you know when he's there.

AH.... cat nappping at it's finest.. but for some reason Laptop LAUNCHES himself (turns out to be toward the door since Nancy is opening to feed them and calls them with the dinner call) and awakens me.

HUH???...

Go back to sleep dear. I'm just feeding the cats.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I awaken with some rather large blobs of long hair from Sterling. Stuck to face and lips .....

My life term caring for my masters has entered another day.

I love your posts! It's almost like a book. Well written and everythings plays out nicely (for your masters anyway ) I'm looking forward to reading all your posts. Do write again soon!

Almost forgot....hello masters of the house!

Update on the household:

It has been somewhat of a trying time of late. Kaitu, my Alaskan Malamute, developed pneumonia and had to spend a week in the hospital. Coughing up blood so we rushed him to the ER vet. He's doing fine

My Master Sterling decided to develope diabetes. He was listless and did not want to eat last Sunday night. I pick him up and go to the bedroom. (he will only approach me in the kitchen (where he tries to convince me that he's starving) or if I'm sitting on the chair at the end of the table in the living room, or the top of the stairs. (silly kitty)

I lay down on the bed and pet him. Normally, when I stop, he will RUN away to the kitchen. He just lay there listless so I told Nancy that we should take him in the the vet and have him checked. Nancy takes Sterling to the vet while I take Kaitu to the ER vet for his checkup.

Kaitu is fine.... but Sterling has a blood sugar of 600. I HATE diabetes. My first wife died of the disease. Sigh... It takes three days of IV fluids, and insulin every hour to get him down to a normal range. Another four days till he decides that he will eat. He now gets insulin twice a day. Son Philip is being taught how to inject insulin (he's timid to do so) Nancy is a nurse so she knows. I injected my first wife almost daily... so I'm familar.

Sterling is doing fine.

Now for the update concerning Tigger.

Nothing really new, but we have noticed a behavior that is making us smile.

When Tigger decides that he needs to administer discipline to any of the cats or that other beast - the dog, he will. BUT he does seem to want to be somewhat vigorous and that can result in hurting others. When he gets stiff legged mad he should not be approached. What we do is use a squirt bottle to "get his attention" .

Now Tigger is a cat who will stick his head under the faucet to drink the water that will flow down his head. He will also stick his leg under the stream to drink also. He will also stick his paw into the water and lick the water from the paw.

Behavior befitting a master who wants to be different I suppose.

We have spied Tigger walking around the living room, sewing room or the kitchen - nothing new for a Master, but he will go out his way to "Bat the bottle" in retribution. He will only smack it once and off he goes, as if nothing happened.

Another update:
Tigger has become quite the character. He insists on sleeping upon my wife but there is a ritual that he has to perform.

1. Run back and forth from the bedroom to the guest bathroom, where he wants to drink all the water the faucet supplies.
2. Run to the living room where he has a litter box.
3. The litter box is NOT in the living room, it has been taken to the bedroom.
4. Sniff the litterbox to make sure it belongs to him.
5. Run to the guest bathroom, where he will complain loudly that he wants water. It doesn't make any difference that he just had a drink. He's supposed to have kidney failure problems, but the only thing we can see is that he drinks more water.
6. Drink till he's full.
7. Complain aloud... I found I have give him some attention by giving him a belly rub (he would previously take my hand off at the elbow if I got too close to his tummy or hips) and a back massage. I can give him a scritch/massage from his neck to his tail.
8. Loud purring

Now that it has been established that he still has complete control over his two slaves, he will allow himself to be taken to the bedroom. Close the door.

He will sit beside the door, awaiting his female slave (she's making sure the lights are off and doors locked)

I start getting ready for bed by setting up my CPAP/BiPAP machine. Tigger will observe the procedure and when I've turned on the heater for the humidifier he jumps up on the bed.

Thwap (the facemask gets a smack) or it gets pushed.

He will jump off and on the bed looking around the room and telling all who will listen that he's getting ready for bed.

By this time I've brushed my teeth and gotten ready for bed. He will come over and walk up and down my body till he decides that he's gotten the right place to wait for his female slave. Doesn't matter that I might not be ready. He's placed his chin upon my leg. Purrrrrr

and he watches my wife get ready for bed. When she has put her robe on the foot of the bed, he will get up.... S T R E C H......

and walk over to her side of the bed. Watching every move she makes he waits. When she sits down he will walk around her. Over her legs... around the back...around to the front. He will than sit on her pillow.

Loud purring, but he's getting impatient.

Walking back and forth he will give her a minimum amount of time to get settled in while he walks upon and down her legs getting just the right spot.
This is my signal to turn off the lights. He no longer glares at me for all the noise my CPAP/BiPAP machine is making.

If, however I have to keep the light on he will walk over and glare at me. Tail will thwap back and forth. When I reach to turn off the light he will go back to wife and settle in. Purring and than some gentle snores. (I can't hear this but wife tells me that it doesn't take long for him to fall asleep)

Ah... life with my master Tigger is really quite something. He has early stage kidney failure (which seems to be in remission right now or at least not affecting him very much other than drinking lots of water) so all three of us will turn on the water in the sink for him to drink. Lots of times though, he justs wants attention. He'll jump in my arms and purr and purr. I was walking down the hallway petting and letting him see into the closet.

Oh.. it's the closet and I've never been on that shelf there. (getting up onto my shoulder and planting claws to leap) [ oh the little razors are such a nice thing to be embedded into my arm/shoulder/neck] Looking left and right deciding where to jump....

Not wishing to experience trying to get Tigger out of the upper realms of closetdom, I bend over slowly before he can jump and I hope that he will jump down to the floor.

Not on your life slave. I'm going to sit right hear and look at the closet.

I get down on my hands and knees. I can hear him purring but he's not moving.

Wife Nancy is in the kitchen observing the entire episode. Much laughter

Son comes into kitchen... much laughter.

I'm asking them to get Tigger. I'm pleading....

They laugh

I'm laughing

Tigger has decide to curl up and just stay where he is to punish me for letting him get a glimse of forbidden territory.

I finally get rescued by Nancy. Tigger is enamored of Nancy and purrs even louder that his number one slave has picked him up to give him attention.

another day has started.

Thanks for the update! I love reading about Tigger!

I start getting ready for bed by setting up my CPAP/BiPAP machine. Tigger will observe the procedure and when I've turned on the heater for the humidifier he jumps up on the bed.

Thwap (the facemask gets a smack) or it gets pushed.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes thru this She smacks the mask when it is actually on my face LOL

Does Tigger attack/claw the hose? Wondering...b/c I have to keep replacing hoses and I've never had an opportunity to ask any else this before

It's wonderful to hear that Tigger is doing well with you and you've truly welcomed him into your family.

Originally Posted by CDubbie

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Does Tigger attack/claw the hose?It's wonderful to hear that Tigger is doing well with you and you've truly welcomed him into your family.[/quote]

Tigger does not attack/claw the hose. I saw him express interest with the air tubing that is coming from the next bedroom giving me supplemental oxygen. He listened to the air going through the tube. He listened to the air going through the bigger tube going to my mask. When to got to the mask itself, he was startled by the flow of air coming out of the mask that hit him in the face. He smacked the mask and walked to another part of the bed. Since it didn't fight back I suppose he thinks that it is a subservient thing.

As for welcoming him into the family, he was brought home as a teenager (more than 1 yr. and less than a couple is how I call it) to be with wife and step son. Single mom and son. About two years later he is living with my in-laws because their cat Oliver and Tigger became friends. Not wishing to break that friendship Nancy decided to leave him. Tigger was still bonded with Nancy though. He re-established the bond when he came to live with us.
Old cranky cat - because in-laws frequently "snipe" at each other, bicker and such. He is now in a home that does not display the same type behavior and has changed his de-meow-ner.

"Since it didn't fight back I suppose he thinks that it is a subservient thing. "



Good thing he doesnt go after the hose...Smidge is costing me a lot of $$ in replacing those things!

I think we've taken care of the "fang-er" by giving him plenty of straws. We do, however, have issues with Charlie and potato bags.

For some reason, known only to Charlie and Bast/Sekhmet (Egyption Cat Gods) he reacts to freshly purchased bags of potatoes like it was full of catnip. 30 seconds around the bag and he's toasted. Seems likes he's a easy drunk of a cat master.

You have good stories Felton

My last cat, my sweetie Tess who died three years ago yesterday, would attack the crisper in the fridge if any part of celerly leaves were sticking out of it. Her "jaws of steel" grabbed and shredded as aggressively as possible and although she weighed 10 lbs we couldnt drag her off the leaves! No other food item provoked her to do this. We found it odd and funny.

Tigger has started a new behavior.

While going through the "normal" get ready for bed (regardless of having worked a night shift or day shift) Tigger will do the "normal" smack the mask. He than sits at the end of the bed, awaiting for the supplemental oxygen hose to be activated. (I get 2 CFM extra oxygen pumped into my system via the BiPAP. I start the flow of oxygen and walk into the bedroom. Noise from the machine is minimal if placed in the office. Kind of like a gentle hum. Air is flowing through the hose. I turn on the BiPAP and get the 15 CFM / 22 CFM flow started. The mask gets settled into place and I than attach the oxygen hose to the BiPAP.

During this process of getting the mask into place, Tigger has started pouncing on the end of the hose. His "kitten" is out to play now. He'll jump on the hose, stick his head under the covers, bat the hose around a bit and look at me with some askance if I start to take the hose. He's in "play" mode now and will be until my wife comes into the room. All play will stop, unless she has started his "kitten" engine by using one of his toys. He will than follow her around or wait at the end of the bed while she is in the bathroom. I now have the opportunity to place the oxygen hose on my BiPAP and settle in for the night.

Life with Tigger is an interesting experience as he reveals more of himself to his slaves.

I have erred. I have let my faulty memory grab hold of the situation and let Tigger run wild.

Nancy and I sing in our church choir. We received some palm leafs this last Sunday and again Tuesday night (practice for Holy Week) Nancy was shown how to fold a palm leaf into a cross (which she has wanted to learn how to do for some time) and given the folded palm.

Today, prior to leaving for church, I placed a unfolded palm on the bed. I also put the folded palm on the bed.

We returned

and found that many FANGer marks/holes were in the unfolded palm leaf. So many that it was thrown away. The folded palm was moved from where I had placed it on the bed, but methinks he was saving it or we were just coming in the door when he had planned to FANGer or hole punch the palm.

Tigger seems to LOVE to FANGer / chew leafs of that shape. Spider plants and some tree sized plant in the sewing room (I've forgotten the name, but I got the plant 21 years ago and it's touching the lofted ceiling - I had transplanted it a couple times to where it has a huge pot [for a potted plant] to grow in.
I was chastised by my loving wife and told that Tigger has loved to FANGer long leafed plants since he was a young teenager.

Tigger, of course, thanked me and just purred

and than demanded water from the sink.

Life with my master continues

Wonder of wonders.

Tigger came into the bedroom and ploped down beside me while I was watching TV. Nancy was also there, but he came over to me. Turned over and he wanted a belly rub/scratch.

Nancy and I were amazed. More than 5 minutes till he stretched and got up and walked to Nancy. HUH? What's your problem slave. You've never seen a master get what he wants? LOUD purrs the entire time

About an hour later, he again comes over and plops (that's the best way to describe it because it wasn't gracefull) over and down to get a belly rub.

Another 5 minutes of purring

than it's stretch and walk off to go somewhere in the house where he wanted to go.

Nancy calls mother in law, who is amazed beyond belief. Never ever since she has known him has anyone come close to his belly or his tail.

Life with Master Tigger continues to be fun